What it's about:molecular phylogenetics, which uses biopolymers (DNA, RNA, and proteins) to study the evolutionary history of organisms and determine relationships between species.

Contains: three "big surprises" that will make you rethink your understanding of evolution: the domain of Archaea, the process of horizontal gene transfer, and a probable ancestor of humans previously unknown to science.

What it's about:Urban trees don't always get credit for all that they do -- for example, improving air quality, absorbing excess rainwater and surface runoff, saving energy, and inspiring cities' human inhabitants. This engaging natural history aims to change that perception.

Why it matters: From the stately specimens that grace the National Mall to the scrappy sapling of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, trees have always played an important role in American life.

Inquiring minds want to know: What prompted a logger-turned-activist to cut down the world's only giant golden spruce tree?

What it's about: Expanding on an article he wrote for the New Yorker, author John Vaillant recounts the destruction of K'iid K'iyaas, a centuries-old Sitka spruce with unusual golden needles located in British Columbia's Haida Gwaii archipelago.

Did you know? Trees have families and friends, memories, sophisticated communication systems, and even the ability to feel pain.

Why you might like it: Without sacrificing scientific accuracy, author Peter Wohlleben enchants readers with combination of lyrical vignettes and anecdotes about his experiences as a forester in Germany.